Automatic line for the lateral cutting out of a steel band into plates for magnetic circuits of transformers



United States Patent inventors Gennady Ivanovich Pshenichny,

Ulitsa Kremlevskaya 27, kv. 8.; Yakov Zinovievich Checheljuk, UlitsaScherbakova 42, kv. 38: Mikhail Andreevich Afanasiev, UlitsaDnepropetrovskoe shosse 48 kv. l7; Nikolai Nazarovich Khmara, UlitsaKremlevskaya 33, kv. 7, all of Zaporozhie,

U.S.S.R. Appl. No. 692,209 Filed Dec. 20, 1967 Patented Nov. 10,1970

AUTOMATIC LINE FOR THE LATERAL CUTTING OUT OF A STEEL BAND INTO PLATESFOR MAGNETIC CIRCUITS OF TRANSFORMERS 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

Int. Cl B26d 5/20,

[50] Field of Search 83/34, 236, I 248, 240, 255, 276, 437, 336, 153,160, 215-217, 556. 559, 94

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,730,233 1/1956 Coleman eta1 83/336X 2,920,521 1/1960 Abbenante 83/248X 3,085,458 4/1963 Platt eta1 83/240 FOREIGN PATENTS 976,855 11/1950 France 83/437 PrimaryExaminer-James M. Meister Attorney-Waters, Roditi; Schwartz and NissenABSTRACT: An apparatus for cutting a continuous steel band intoplatescomprises means for feeding the band to a first guillotine whichtransversely cuts the band to separate plates therefrom, after which theplates are transported to a second guillotine where sharp cornersthereof are removed, the plates then being transported laterally byfurther electromagnets for discharge from the apparatus. 1

Pflented Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet Patented Nov. 10, 1970 Sheet Patented Nov.10, 1970 Sheet Sheet 4 01'5 AUTOMATIC LINE FOR THE LATERAL CUTTING OUTOF A STEEL BAND INTO PLATES FOR MAGNETIC CIRCUITS OF TRANSFORMERS 7 Thepresent invention relates to automatic lines for cutting a steel bandinto plates for magnetic circuits of transformers, and moreparticularly, to lines for cutting a steel band into plates withchamfered lateral edges in which sharp angles must be cut.

Known in the art are automatic lines for lateral cutting of a steel bandinto plates for magnetic circuits of transformers, in which said steelband is fed by a feeding mechanism from an unwinding device through aband pulling mechanism onto cutting stamps and therefrom onto turnableguillotine shears for cutting off plates. The cutoff plates are then fedonto a device for their removal off the line. h

A disadvantage of the known automaticlines is that they are large insize, complicated in design and not efficient enough. Furthermore,plates produced on these lines become deformed in the course of theirproduction, which fact results in a marked deterioration of theelectrotechnical characteristics of magnetic circuits.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce the size of the line.7

Another object of the invention is to simplify the design of theautomatic line.

Additionally, the present invention aims at providing an automatic lineof a higher efficiency.

And, finally, it is an object of the invention to provide an automaticline which will preclude the deformation of plates in the course oftheir production and, consequently, will not result in deterioration ofthe electrotechnical characteristics of magnetic circuits.

In compliance with the aforementioned and other objects an automaticline has been provided for the lateral cutting of a steel band intoplates for magnetic circuits of transformers, wherein a steel band isfed to guillotine shears for cutting plates therefrom, from an unwindingdevice through a band pulling mechanism, while a cutoff plate is fed bya plate feeding mechanism to a device for removing ready plates.

According to the invention, the automatic line is equipped withadditional shears for cutting off sharp corners or angles in plates,which have an opening for passage through it of the plate feedingmechanism, said additional shears being arranged after the guillotineshears. The plate feeding mechanism is fashioned as an electromagnetmoving reciprocatingly and electrically connected to the device forremoving ready plates. The latter device is fashioned as a frame withgrips traveling in a horizontal plane and perpendicular to the directionof the travel of the plate feeding mechanism.

It is feasible to arrange the device for removing ready plates as twogroups of electromagnets interlocked electrically with an electromagnetof the plate feeding mechanism and working in succession.

The automatic line thus designed is nearly half as short as the knownlines employed for the same purpose. The production efficiency of theline provided in accordance with the present invention is 50 percenthigher than that of the known lines. The line according to the inventionpermits obtaining plates with higher electrotechnical characteristics.

The invention will be more apparent from a detailed description of anexemplary embodiment of the present invention, reference being had tothe appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan viewshowing the cutting of the plates fromthe band.

The automatic line comprises several mechanisms arranged in succession:an unwinding device I fitted with a split socket 2 on which a roll witha steel band (not shown in the drawing) is mounted, an electric drive 3for imparting rotary motion to the unwinding device and a terminalswitch 4 of the drive 3.

To pull the steel band in the course of a plate cutting operation, apulling mechanism 5 is provided, which is followed by a band feedingmechanism 6. The latter is fitted with feeding carriages 7 actuated froma hydraulic drive 8 with a rack transmission. The travel of thecarriages is restricted by rests Arranged after the band'feedingmechanism 6 are turnable guillotine shears I0 for cutting the band at asharp angle to fonn plates. Additional guillotine shears 11 are providedafter the shears 10 for cutting sharp corners from the plate. Followingsaid guillotine shears 11 is a plate feeding mechanism 12 which freelytravels within the opening available in said shears. A device 13 forremoving ready plates from the automatic line'is mounted on horizontalguides above the plate feeding mechanism 12. g

The band feeding mechanism 6 has two carriages 7 which successively feedthe band onto the tumable guillotine shears 10 for cutting plates, whichensures continuous feed .of the band to the guillotine shears. Asuccessive travel of the carriages-7 is effected from the hydraulicdrive 8 having a hydraulic cylinder 14 (FIG. 2).with two pistons 15interconnected by means of a rack 16.-Said rack 16 transmits reversingmotion to the carriages 7 of the band feeding mechanism 6 via a gear 17and a sprocket 18 of a gear train 19, said sprocket being arranged onone shaft 20 together with the gear 17. V

The carriage 7 hasgripping jaws 21 (FIG. 3) with rotary cylinders 22arranged so that the axes of their rotation are parallel to thedirection of the feed of a band 23. Lateral shift of the band isrestricted by guide rollers 24.

The additional guillotine shears 11 have a bed frame 25 (FIG. 4) with anopening in a zone where lower knives 26 are a mounted, to ensure passageof the plate feeding mechanism 12. The lower 26 and upper 27 shears aremade of separate 1 sections disposed at the edges of the bed frame 25,thus not obstructing the travel of the plate feeding mechanism 12 to theguillotine shears 10 and therefrom to the device 13 for removing readyplates.

The plate feeding mechanism 12 comprises an electromagnet 28 mounted ona carriage 29 with an elongated trunk 30.

The travel of the plate feeding mechanism 12 is restricted by rests 31and 32. Reciprocating motion of the plate feeding mechanism is effectedfrom a drive 33 similar to the drive 8 of the band feeding mechanism 6.

The device 13 for removing ready plates comprises a frame 39 (FIG. 5)with grips 40-. From a drive 41 theframe 39 undergoes reciprocatingmotion along guides 42 in a horizontal plane, perpendicular to thetravel of the plate feedings.

mechanism 12.

The grips 40 are fashioned as two groups of electromagnets interlockedelectrically with the electromagnet 28 of the plate feeding mechanism12. The drive 41 of the device 13 for removingreadyplates is similar tothe drive 8 of the band feeding mechanism 6.

Referring to the cutting sequence as shown at the left side of. FIG. 6,the shears 10 are turned at for each alternate cut so as to produce atrapezoidal plate. The line of cut of the additional shears 11 is shownand it is to be understood that the:

sharp comers which have been shaded are removed from the plate. On theright side of FIG. 6, there is produced a'plater having a :quadrilateralshape with one side inclined with:

respect to the edges and the other side perpendicular thereto. in thiscase the shears 10 undergo a 45 rotation between successive cuts.

The automatic line for the lateral cutting of a steel band into platesfor the magnetic circuits of transformers functions as follows:

A steel band from a roll (not shown in the drawing) mounted on the splitsocket 2 of the unwinding device 1 is manually charged into the bandfeeding mechanism 6 through the pulling device 5. Then the drive 3 ofthe unwinding device 1 and the drive 8 of the feeding mechanism 6 areactivated.

Thereafter the line operates automatically.

One of the carriages 7 feeds the band to the guillotine shears 10 whichmake a 45 turn in a horizontal plane to ensure the cutting-off of platesat a sharp angle. When the carriage 7 reaches the rest 9 positioned asrequired by the size of a plate being cut off, the drive (not shown inthe drawing) of the guillotine shears l and the drive (not shown in thedrawing) of the band pulling mechanism are started automatically.

The pulling mechanism 5 pulls the band, one of whose ends is held by aclamp (not shown in the drawing) of the guillotine shears 10, and oneside of the band is cut off.

Then, the pulling mechanism 5 releases the band, the carriage 7 returnsto the initial position, while the other carriage 7 makes another feedof the band.

Concurrently, the guillotine shears 10 make a 90 turn in a horizontalplane in the opposite direction, the band is again pulled, and anotherplate is cut off. When necessary, the angle of the turn of theguillotine shears 10 may be varied. In the course of cutting off theplates, the trunk 30 of the plate feeding mechanism 12 is brought up tothe guillotine shears 10. Once the cutting operation is over, theelectromagnet 28 and the drive 33 of the plate feeding mechanism 12 areswitched on. The cutoff plate is attracted to the electromagnet 28 ofthe plate feeding mechanism 12. Said mechanism, while traveling up tothe rest 32 at a speed higher than the speed of band feeding, feeds theplate onto the additional guillotine shears 1 1 for cutting a sharpangle in said plate. The width of thetrunk 30 of the feeding mechanism12 is less than the minimum width of the plate, and the sharp corner ofthe plate to be cut by shears 11 is always within a cutting zone. Assoon as the plate feeding mechanism 12 reaches the rest 32 and comes toa stop, the drive (not shown in the drawing) of the additionalguillotine shears 11 is started, and the lateral cutting of plates nearthe sharp angle takes place. During the reverse travel of the knives 27of the additional guillotine shears 11 the hydraulic cylinder 35 startsto operate, and the rest 32 withdraws in the direction of plates feed,thus permitting the plate feeding mechanism 12 to occupy a positionunder the device 13 for removing ready plates. One group of theelectromagnets 40 of the device 13, when in the initial position, isabove the ready plate. As soon as the plate feeding mechanism 12occupies an extreme position, the electromagnet 28 of this mechanism isdeactivated, while the group of the electromagnets 40 of the device lllifor removing ready plates is actuated. Being attracted by theelectromagnet 40 of said device, the plate is brought out of a sidelimit of the automatic line and dropped into a cup 43. The plate feedingmechanism 12 returns to the initial position for reception of a nextplate, and the second group of the electromagnets 40 of the device 13for removing ready plates occupies the position above the next plate forits reception and disposal on the other side of the line into a cup 441.in the course of the band pulling its feeding discontinues, while-theunwinding device 1 continues to operate and the band reserve is loweredinto a well 45 (FIG. 1), thus forming a loop. With the loop becomingbigger and pressing on the terminal switch 4 of the electric drive 3 ofthe unwinding device 1, the electric drive is disconnected and theunwinding device stops to operate until the band reserve becomessmaller.

When describing the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionconcrete narrow terminology has been used for the sake of clarity.However, the invention is not limited by the terms adopted and it shouldbe born in mind that each of these terms embraces all the equivalentelements working analogously and used to solve similar problems.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to anexemplary embodiment thereof, various alterations and modifications canbe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, asthose skilled in the art will easily understand.

We claim:

1. An automatic line for the lateral cutting of a steel band into platesfor magnetic circuits of transformers, which comprises: means forunwinding said band; guillotine shear means for successively cuttingsaid band at an acute angle to separate plates from said band; amechanism for feeding said band to said guillotine shear means; amechanism for pulling said band in the course of cutting a platetherefrom; additional guillotine shear means for cutting off sharpcorners from said plates, said additional guillotine shear means beingprovided with an opening for passage of said plates; means for removingready plates including an electromagnet, and means for reciprocallymoving said electromagnet through said opening in the additionalguillotine shear means to feed cut plates to a said additional shearmeans and therefrom to said means for removing ready plates, the lattersaid means comprising a frame with grips, traveling in a horizontalplane perpendicular to the direction of travel of said electromagnet.

2. An automatic line as claimed in claim 1 in which the grips of thedevice for removing ready plates are arranged as two groups of furtherelectromagnets operating in succession with the first saidelectromagnet.

